Tag: Sports radio

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: As the 2020 Season Opens Your Favorite Baseball Team

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Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium in Miami the former spring training home of the Baltimore Orioles was one of the founding teams that Amaury worked for in starting his career in Major League Baseball (wikipedia.com photo)

As the 2020 Season Opens Your Favorite Baseball Team

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Finally, the baseball season gets under way on Thursday. The inaugural game as the NY Yankees visit the World Champion Washington Nationals and later the San Francisco Giants visit the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Baseball is generational. Good chance that your father (with all the respect to mother) introduced you to the game. My father surely did since I was a little boy playing catch with him and my brother and taking me to Estadio de El Cerro in Havana, to watch the famous Cuban Professional Winter League.

Some people grow up following a team, because that was the team that their family rooted for, as simple as that. That is one of the beauties of the game we all love. But, many might have a preference for one of more teams. While growing up my team in Cuba was Leones del Habana (Havana Lions). In the US because a country of its size and tradition there are numerous people that were born in one city, rooted for their team there, but moved someplace else and now pledge their allegiance to their home team.

In the US, the first Major League team I saw were the Baltimore Orioles, in the early 1960’s when they trained at the old Miami Stadium, in Miami, Florida, later named Bobby Maduro Stadium, who was a Cuban entrepreneur and executive who was dedicated to the game of baseball. I was lucky enough -through a friend- to have worked for the Baltimore Orioles as a bat boy during Spring Training and I will forever remember the players of the Orioles during those years. Milt Pappas, Brooks Robinson, Jackie Brandt, John (Boog) Powell, Gus Triandos and many others. I was on the field with them, and for me they were like Gods.

So for me, my introduction to Major League Baseball was the Orioles, although I have visited Baltimore, but never lived there. It was like my first love to baseball in the US, and therefore, the Orioles will forever have a place in my heart. As a broadcaster I enjoy the game and I always want to see the best baseball possible, I like to see the Oakland Athletics win their fifth World Series in Oakland this year. I was broadcasting A’s games the last time they won it in 1989, a historical year and World Series with the Loma Prieta earthquake right in the middle of the series.

So (for some) it it is possible to have a double-allegiance in baseball. The Orioles have been a terrible team during the last few years but they also had some great years when Earl Weaver was their manager. As a professional in this business, yes, the A’s are definitely my team, but the Orioles are always in my heart, because they are part of my life, the memories of those years as a youngster, my family a much different Miami than today. My kids are also huge A’s fans who used to seat right behind the visiting dugout at the Coliseum with their Mom during the great years of Billy Ball and later Tony LaRussa, Dave Stewart, Ricky Henderson and the Bash Brothers. Those years for the A’s were like the Bruce Springsteen hit, “Glory Days”

My question to you the reader, which is your favorite team or teams? Did you adopt the team because your father your mother, anybody in your family or a friend introduced you to the team as a fan? Did you just follow baseball because you like the game, regardless of who is playing? Who do you root for? And my last question. Do you still own that terrible cap that has the A’s logo in one side and the Giants logo on the other? Just asking.

Baseball is the longest season of any of the main sports leagues in the country. It is a grind that develops a lot of character on people, demands a lot of loyalty, passion and dedication to your favorite team.

I wish your favorite team enjoys a good abbreviated season, and regardless of your opinion, on how you feel about baseball this year, we are all making history in 2020 and that includes baseball with this new experience.

The season opener for the Oakland Athletics is this Friday the 24th when the Los Angeles Angels are the first visitors to the Oakland Coliseum for a weekend-four-game series which concludes on Monday. Joe Maddon in his first season as the Manager of the LA Angels and Bob Melvin manager of the A’s have already named their pitchers. This should be fun, two of the best skippers in the game.

A’s fireballer Frankie Montas is scheduled to start, while lefty Andrew Heaney will open the season for the Halos.

You can follow all the action En Español; on KIQI 1010AM radio here in the Bay Area and KATD 990AM Sacramento- Stockton. Every A’s game at home on weekend and night games at home on weekdays will be broadcast in Spanish.

Sintonize este Viernes, primer lanzamiento 7:10 PM.

Stay tuned, stay well.

Giants preview report: Amid pandemic, baseball is back…. with plenty of questions

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Martha Arreola cleans seats occupied with cardboard cutouts of fans at the Oakland Coliseum on Mon Jul 20th before the San Francisco Giants visit against the Oakland A’s in pre season action (photo from the San Francisco Chronicle)

By Jeremy Harness

So many questions, so few answers. And a lot of these questions, frankly, have nothing to do with baseball.

How much longer will players be forced to play inside empty ballparks, with the exception of a few employees, cutouts and teddy bears?

The Giants and A’s played a two-game home-and-home exhibition series earlier this week, and the two teams went about this issue in slightly-different ways. The first few rows of seats behind the plate at Oakland Coliseum were filled with said cutouts, which supposedly could give a pitcher a certain sense of support but seemingly have no other purpose.

Oracle Park, on the other hand, did not have any of that, instead relying on the regular public-address announcer as well as fake crowd noise that all teams are employing, to give the impression that these games – and this season – are, but in reality are anything but.

Normal.

Who will emerge with the tightest mask game?

Wearing a mask over the nose and mouth while in an active sports competition is a concept that not everyone has warmed up to – a local driving range just this week made wearing masks mandatory while hitting golf balls – but expect it to be a thing throughout the coming weeks and months.

Only a portion of players wore masks during MLB’s exhibition series, aka Summer Camp, but that number is expected to grow as well. And just like shoes – or any other part of clothing, really – masks come in different forms and can be certainly be used as a fashion statement or to get a certain message across. Which brings us to our next question.

How many players will choose to kneel for the national anthem?

In 2016, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick famously started kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality toward African Americans, and was soon joined by fellow NFL players such as his teammate, safety Eric Reid, as well as safety Malcolm Jenkins.

The next year, A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell became the first MLB player to kneel. Fast forward three years, and following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that involved law enforcement and the ensuing re-emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, the number of players has increased considerably. Giants manager Gabe Kapler as well as three Giants players and a pair of coaches knelt during the national anthem during the recent Giants-A’s exhibition games.

This has also occurred around the league, as Joey Votto was among a number of Cincinnati Reds players to take a knee. Even though the silent protests did not catch on in baseball back in 2017 when Maxwell broke the mold, this has certainly gained momentum, as has the movement in general.

Last but not least, will even this abbreviated season be cut short once more should the COVID-19 pandemic spike to the point where mass shutdowns are to occur?

This has obviously been the most unprecedented, uncertain four-month span of our generation, so to expect anything different for this upcoming baseball season would be absurd. There have been recent spikes in COVID-19 cases, particularly in California, and there is no guarantee that there will not be any roadblocks that arise during this shortened season.

Just like with anything regarding everyday life, we have to take a wait-and-see approach. With that, the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers will convene inside a mostly-empty Dodger Stadium on Thursday to begin a season that was nearly scrapped entirely amid wrangling between the league’s owners and the MLBPA.

With all the questions that are out there, at least one can be answered at this point: There will be baseball to be played, and watched, around the country, and that’s a good start to possibly getting back to the place that we had known for so long but has since been taken from us.

Normal.

A’s start 2020 season at Coliseum against Angels Friday

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Oakland A’s manager Bob Melvin pulls Mike Fiers in the fourth inning of Tuesday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park the final pre season game for 2020 (mercurynews.com photo) 

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s are looking forward to the four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels starting Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum. It has been a very long wait to start the season. The season has been delayed due to pandemic caused by the coronavirus. Many changes have been made in order to get things going.

The teams will have 30 players on the roster for the first two weeks of the season. The roster will be reduced to 28 players for the next two weeks and then down to 26 for the rest of the year. The Designated Hitter will be universal. It will be the first time the DH will be used in the National League’s home parks.

The teams will play 60 games. Forty of the games will be played against the A’s Western Division rivals. The other 20 games will be played against the National League Western Division teams. In order to speed up the games, MLB has a new rule for extra-inning contests. The league has mandate that a runner will placed at second base to start the 10th inning. The rule will not be in effect for the playoffs.

The A’s feel that they have an excellent chance to go all the way to the World Series this year. A’s manager, Bob Melvin, in his 10th year at the helm, knows he has the talent to get there. The A’s won 97 games in 2018 and 2019.

They have a good solid nucleus of All-Star caliber players. The team has a lineup that can strike fear into opposing pitchers. There are no easy outs in the lineup. The infield is good defensively, too. Big Matt Olson will be back at first, Matt Chapman at third, Marcus Semien at shortstop.

Semien came in third in in last year’s vote for Most Valuable Player. The only question mark will be at second base. The A’s traded last year’s second baseman Jurickson Profar to the San Diego Padres for catcher Austin Allen. Franklin Barreto, who is out of options, will be in a fight with Tony Kemp and Chad Pinder for the job.

The A’s outfield is also solid. All three outfielders are good defensively and they are all capable of sending the baseball flying out of the park. Mark Canha, who played so well last year in centerfield, will start the season in left. Ramon Laureano will be back in center, and Stephen Piscotty, who missed playing time last year due to injury, will patrol right field. The A’s will use Sean Murphy as the everyday catcher. Austin Allen or Jonah Hiem will be the backups.

The A’s lost three pitchers from last years rotation. Homer Bailey, Brett Anderson, and Tanner Roark all have found new homes. The A’s rotation will feature Frankie Montas, Mike Fiers, Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, and Daniel Mengden to start the season. Montas will start against the Angels Friday night.

Montas was on his way to being the ace of the staff last year until he was suspended for 80 games for use of an illegal substance.The A’s were hoping to use lefties Jesus Luzardo and A.J.Puk as starters. Luzardo is recovering from a bout with Covid-19. Puk, who had Tommy John surgery last year, is experiencing some shoulder pain and is on the Injured List. He is visiting an orthopedic surgeon in Los Angeles for a consultation.

The A’s bullpen is also very good. Liam Hendriks is the A’s closer. Hendriks was an All-Star last season. The setup men will be Yusmeiro Petit, Joakim Soria, Lou Trivino, Jake Diekman, T,J,McFarland and J.B. Wendelken.

The A’s will use Robbie Grossman and Chad Pinder as backups. Grossman is a switch-hitter and can fill in for Canha. Pinder can play both in the infield and outfield. Another play the ‘s will be keeping is Rule-5 selection Vimael Machin. He is an infielder and the A’s may use him if Barreto or Kemp don’t wor out at second base.

The A’s main challenger for the top spot in the West will be the Houston Astros. Even though the Astros lost Geritt Cole to the Yankees and Will Harris to the Nationals, they still are powerful club. They made it to the World Series twice in the last three year. They won it in 2017 and lost to the Nationals last year.

The club has been in turmoil since they were caught stealing signs. The Astros replaced their manager A.J.Hinch with Dusty Baker. Baker, known as a players’ manager, has the tools to make sure the Astros are competitive.

The A’s know they have to get off to a good start. They know that a slow start can doom their chances of winning the division. They made the playoffs in 2018 and 2019 as a wildcard. They lost each time in the one-game playoff format. If they win the division, they will escape the win or go home syndrome. The time has come to play games that count. Let’s play ball.

Jerry Feitelberg is a beat writer for the Oakland A’s on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s game wrap: Giants beat A’s 4-2 to sweep two-game Bay Bridge Series

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Matt Chapman of the Oakland A’s gets ready to take his hacks against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Tuesday night (@Athletics)

By Jerry Feitelberg

San Francisco- The A’s met the Giants at a deserted Oracle Park Tuesday night. The Giants beat the A’s 4-2 to sweep the two-game series.

The setting was totally surreal. The stands were empty, crowd noise was being piped in to make the players get the sense that fans were in the park. There were no fans and no cutouts in the seats. The Giants said the cutouts will be available on next Tuesday when the Giants return home after playing four games in Los Angeles with the Dodgers. The A’s are off until Friday. They open the 60-game season at home against the Los Angeles Angels.

The A’s manager, Bob Melvin, sent Mike Fiers to the mound to face the Giants. The Giants’ skipper, Gabe Kapler, in his first year as the manager, used nine pitchers. Each pitcher worked just one inning.

The Giants drew first blood in the bottom of the first when Mike Yastrzemski led off with a blast to center field. The A’s tallied their two runs in the top of the second. With the Giants using a four-man outfield and the shift, A’s first baseman laid down a bunt down the third base line.

A’s DH Khris Davis was hit by a pitch and the A’s had two men on with no out. Giants’ pitcher Conner Menez retired Mark Canha and Stephen Piscotty. Chad Pinder, playing second base, Hit a ball that appeared to go into the stands in right centerfield. Two runs scored. The umpires ruled the ball was in play and Pinder stopped at second with a double. Bob Melvin challenged the call.

The replays clearly showed the ball hitting the seats and bouncing back into the field. The review umpire in New York did not overturn the call. The A’s led 2-1. They would not score again.

The Giants tied the game in the bottom of the second on Alex Dickerson’s off-field home run. They added a run in the fourth and one in the sixth. The Giants win 4-2.

The A’s line score was two runs, two hits, and no errors. The Giants’ line was 4 runs, 8 hits, and no errors.

Baseball starts for real for the A’s Friday night. The A’s will be gunning for the AL West title. There will be a preview of the team and predictions on my report on Thursday.

Giants game wrap: Summer training ends with a Giants win 4-2

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The San Francisco Giants Mike Yastrzemski belted a homer that landed in the right center field stands on the Levi Plaza level the first volley that put the Giants on top of the visiting Oakland A’s at Oracle Park in San Francisco (sports.yahoo.com photo)

By Jeremy Kahn

It what was the first game at Oracle Park in the Gabe Kapler era ended on a good note for the home team.

Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson each hit solo home runs and nine pitchers went one inning each, as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Oakland As 4-2 to sweep the Bay Bridge Series.

Tyler Rogers, Conor Menez, Dany Jimenez, Wandy Peralta, Andrew Suarez, Sam Coonrod, Andrew Triggs, Sam Selman and Sam Wolff each pitched an inning for the victorious Giants over their East Bay rival.

The nine pitchers gave up only two hits to the As, as Menez gave up both hits in his only inning of work.

Yastrzemski got the Giants on the board in a hurry, as he tattooed Mike Fiers onto the arcade over the right-center field wall.

Unfortunately, the one-run lead would not last long, as Chad Pinder hit a long triple off of Menez that looked like a three-run home run, as Bob Melvin challenged the call; however, the play stood and the As took a 2-1 lead.

Matt Olson got the As first hit of the game, as he beat out an infield bunt to the third base side of the diamond with the Giants playing three infielders and four outfielders. Menez then hit Khris Davis, but regrouped to get Mark Canha to fly out to Dickerson and Stephen Piscotty, who homered on Monday night at the Coliseum struck out for the second out of the inning.

Pinder then launched a long fly ball to right-center that was ruled a triple, despite the fact that Melvin challenged the call.

Dickerson then tied up the game, as he launched a solo home run halfway up the left-center field bleachers.

Donovan Solano gave the Giants the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit a sacrifice fly to center field that allowed Pablo Sandoval beat the Ramon Laureano throw to the plate.

Tyler Heineman added a second sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Dickerson scored from third base.

Yastrzemski went 2-for-2 on the night, while Dickerson went three-for-four on the evening, as the Giants picked up eight hits on the game against three As pitchers.

Peralta, who pitched a perfect fourth inning to pick up the win for the Giants and Wolff closed it out for his first save of the season, despite giving up a walk to Skye Bolt, who was quickly retired on a double play ball that Wolff got Davis to ground into and then Seth Brown flew out to Jaylin Davis to end the game.

NOTES: Once multiple players, coaches and Kapler knelt during the National Anthem prior to the game that gained national news when they did it on Monday Night, including a tweet from President Donald Trump.

Looking forward to live sports, but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me!, Trump tweeted.

UP NEXT: Johnny Cueto will start the opener for the Giants on Thursday night, when they open the season against Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: NBA reporting no new cases of Covid; NFL reports 70 new cases will it put a doubt on the season?

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The NBA and WNBA are both playing in the bubble at the ESPN Walt Disney Sports Complex in Orlando. The NBA has reported no cases of Coronavirus as the regular season restarts on Fri Jul 31st (Los Angeles Times file photo)

On Headline pod with Barbara:

#1 Barbara you had just gone over some of the statistics regarding Covid-19 cases in the NBA and there have been zero cases and it’s got to give the players and employees at the ESPN Walt Disney World Sports Arena a piece of mind.

#2 As for the NFL where there is no planned bubble there have been a reported 72 cases of Covid and talk of cutting pre season to just zero games down from the original four pre season games.

#3 The Oakland A’s played host to the San Francisco Giants at an empty Oakland Coliseum even though it’s a pre season game how much does it mean to Bay Area fans to have the games getting underway as of Monday.

#4 Talk about the regular season games that will be getting started for the Giants as they head to Los Angeles after tonight’s pre season match up against the A’s at Oracle Park.

#5 The A’s host the Los Angles Angels in the first of four games which opens up the regular season on Friday night at Oakland Coliseum. The Angels always loaded with Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. Trout had doubts that he would play this season where is he on the 2020 regular season right now?

Barbara Mason does Headline Sports each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary podcast: A’s and Giants conclude two game exhibition tonight at Oracle in SF

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The Oakland A’s Sean Manaea who is slated to start Saturday in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels at the Big A in the second of a four game series (Napa Valley Register file photo)

On That’s Amaury’s pod:

#1 Amaury the A’s hosted the Giants last night for the first of two pre season games. A’s pitcher Sean Manaea who had his plans rearranged for him last season in a tough loss in a one game Wild Card game against the Tampa Bay Rays is really looking to make amends this season.

#2 Manaea said that he looked forward to facing his teammates in training camp inter squad show downs.

#3 Manaea said he didn’t want to talk too much about some of the A’s split squad hitters he faced who grooved some of his pitches saying “a couple of guys that tagged me pretty hard, so I don’t want to talk about that.”

#4 The A’s are starting Frankie Montas for opening night on Friday in Anaheim. Montas was suspended last season for 80 games when tested positive for using a banned substance on June 21, 2019. Montas says that’s all behind him and is looking forward to the start on opening night against the Los Angeles Angels.

#5 The Oakland A’s are bringing up reliever Jordan Weems who actually was drafted as a catcher in 2011 by the Boston Red Sox. He showed up for spring 0.1 and impressed manager Bob Melvin and pitching coach Scott Emerson so much with his 98 MPH pitches and they said he had great control that he will make the opening night roster for this Friday night.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio play by play lead announcer on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s game wrap: Giants take four run win over A’s to open short two game home at home exhibition

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San Francisco Giants players take a knee during the national anthem before their exhibition contest against the Oakland A’s on Monday night at the Oakland Coliseum (photo from CNN News)

By Lewis Rubman

July 20, 2019

San Francisco 6 -7 -2 Oakland 2 -4- 0

OAKLAND–Freud defines the uncanny as the unsettling feeling we get from something that is both strange and familiar at the same time. That’s a pretty good word to describe the experience of going to tonight’s exhibition game between the A’s and the Giants at Camp Coliseum.

You go through security, just like last year, only this time the inspectors first take your temperature. You find your assigned seat and sit alone, no one within six feet of you until the twenty-seventh out. You try to figure out a way to keep your glasses from steaming up over your mask.

The last Athletics game to have zero paid attendance took place on April 17, 2018, but there were something like 55,000 people in stands that night in the ball yard on the banks of the River Nimitz. Tonight’s crowd, if that’s the word, was closer to 155. It made a weekday game at Cal’s Evans Diamond feel like rush hour in the Tokyo subway.

There were announcements made on the public address system, but Dick Callahan, recovering from a recent medical emergency, wasn’t there to make them, having wisely chosen not to take unnecessary chances with his health. The ubiquitous Kara and Stomper were nowhere to be found, and vendors were as rare as Lysol spray on the shelves of your local supermarket.

The backs of the cutouts bearing images of absent fans that had been placed in the seats in front of the press section looked like rows of tombstones in a military cemetery. During the seventh inning, the A’s announced the attendance figure of 510 cutouts. Perhaps that was a tribute to the area code.

Some of the returning players, too, were both the same and different from last year. Marcus Semien no longer needs to prove his worth. His double play partner of ’19, Jurickson Profar now with the Padres, could be replaced as the A’s by Tony Kemp, who started the game at second, batting ninth, Chad Pinder, Franklin Barreto, Vimael Machín, or a combination of some or all of the four. A healthy Khris Davis is poised to show the power he exhibited before his injury of last May 5. Not yet the reliable threat he had been before then but not the disappointment he had become by the end of last season, KD is, at the age of 32, a promise. Tonight he performed without pain or glory but managed to drive in a run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth.The team’s regular starting catcher is, as a write this, an open question; Sean Murphy began tonight behind the plate, one spot up from Kemp in the batting order

The scoreboards were bright and legible, but their new, uncluttered look didn’t leave room for a bit of useful information that they used to convey, pitch counts.. It took a while, but eventually the lights took full effect.

Shortly before game time, A.J. Puk,for whom the A’s had placed high hopes, was placed on the injured list with a strained shoulder on his pitching arm. A case, Yogi Berra might have said, of déjà vu all over again. Of course, the Yog wouldn’t have used diacritical marks if he were to write his observation, which he’s told us you can do a lot of if you just look.

In spring training, you expect to have a messy score card. Pinch hitters, pinch runners, and defensive substitutions abound; four or five pitchers a game for each side isn’t at all rare. As the the regular season approaches, the lineups shrink and stabilize. But what would tonight’s score cards look like? It’s mid to late July, and the real season’s yet to start. I made sure to carry plenty of erasers and freshly sharpened pencils. (But I forgot to pack them). Both teams substituted heavily in the last third of the game, but the Giants clearly outscored the A’s, not just in runs, but in pitchers used. Manager Gabe Kapler sent nine hurlers to the mound, each of whom pitched exactly one inning. Kevin Gausman, Tyler Anderson, Drew Smyly, Caleb Baragar, Rico García, Tony Watson, Shaun Anderson,Trevor Gott, and Carlos Navas held the home team to two runs on four hits. Anderson and Baragar gave up the runs. Each Anderson, as well as Baragar and García allowed a hit a piece.

When Sean Manaea, who had experienced his share of medical misery last season, took the mound to face the Giants’ lead-off batter, Austin Slater, it felt as exciting as opening day, but you also had the feeling that any of the baseball action that followed would be a footnote to the big story: the first non intra-squad baseball game played at the Coliseum since the ill-starred wild card game of last October 2. Maneaa was the A’s starter on that occasion as well. The paid attendance that evening was 54,005.

Manaea surrendered three early runs, hitting Pablo Sandoval with a pitch to open the second and then allowing infield isingles to Jaylin Davis and Chadwick Tromp on hard hit ground balls. Austin Slater’s double to left brought all the baserunners home.The Throwin’ Samoan recovered to pitch scoreless baseball in the third, fourth, and fifth frames, but the only other tally his teammates could muster besides the one KD drove in came on Stephen Piscotty’s solo homer in the second. Of the five relievers who followed Manaea four were effective. They were Yusmeiro Petit, Jordan Weems, J.B. Wendelken, and Liam Hendricks. The exception was Jake Diekman, who allowed three runs on two hits and a walk in his 2/3 of an inning pitched.

The two teams will face each other tomorrow evening in a semi-deserted Oracle Park. Mike Fiers will start for Oakland, and submariner Tyler Rogers will take the mound for the Giants.

Cal Bears Football podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Former ASU QB Rudy Carpenter leads Pac 12 in possible boycott if demands aren’t met

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Former ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter is leading the negotiations for player benefits for over 50 Pac 12 players who threatened to boycott if their demands are not met (espn.com file photo)

On the Cal Bears football podcast with Morris:

#1 Former Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter is the designated representative for all 12 Pac 12 schools stating players from the various schools are making demands for revenue sharing, Covid-19 protocols, and improved insurance for post graduation.

#2 It was reported that over 50 players are involved in the negotiations in the Pac 12 and that the Cal Bears are leading the protest. Carpenter says another meeting is scheduled and will later report how far apart are the players and the Pac 12.

#3 Carpenter reported that he has contacted other Pac 12 players and the amount of players are growing in the fight for more insurance protections and Covid-19 protocols Carpenter says the players are considering boycotting if there demands are not met.

#4 The NCAA is considering instituting rules saying players must be tested for Covid-19 72 hours before each game in sports that are considered a high risk contact sport such as football, men’s and women’s basketball.

#5 Cal has the third most four star players in the Pac 12 the Bears don’t have the most total commits but they have enough to ranked fifth good enough to be competitive this coming season.

Jerry Fietelberg  is filling in for Morris Phillips Join Morris each Monday for the Cal Bears podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Earthquakes second half surge buries Fire 2-0. Advance to round of 16 of MLS Is Back Tournament

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San Jose Earthquakes gets sprayed with a can of beer as they celebrate their second win shutting out the Chicago Fire on Sunday 2-0 at the ESPN Wide World Sports Complex in Orlando (theathletic.com photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

ORLANDO, Fla—The San Jose Earthquakes are making a habit of putting teams away in the second half of matches.

They scored two goals to take control in the second 45 en-route to a 2-0 shutout victory over the Chicago Fire FC in their final match of Group B play on Sunday evening at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

With the win, the Quakes clinched first place with seven points (2-0-1) in Group B of the MLS Is Back tournament and advance to the Round of 16 as they await their next opponent.

“These three games were important for this tournament, and it’s also important for the points in the regular season from the stoppage,” said Quakes head coach Matias Almeyda. “Today, the players are responding in an excellent manner. That makes us and our families happy, especially the people from San Jose that watch and follow us.”

The first half featured an exhibition on passing and not much shooting the ball at the goal. San Jose controlled possession with a 70%-30% advantage, but neither team generated many quality chances.

Magnus Eriksson’s shot attempt in the 25th minute sailed high over the net. Luka Stojanovic had the best chance to score by either team in the 39th minute when Chicago finally applied pressure in the offensive zone. However his right-footed shot also sailed over the net.

San Jose (2-1-2) broke the deadlock in the 56th minute when Andy Rios made a touch pass over to Jackson Yuiell. The Man of the Match then quickly found Cristian Espinoza ahead down the right wing. Espinoza beat Fire defender Francisco Calvo off the ball and lasered a shot into the back corner past goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm for his first goal of the season.

“We are just excited to be a team again, playing together. I think now these three games have given us a lot of confidence and a lot of momentum. We are just happy to be on the field. We didn’t want this to be our last game for a while, and we want to keep pushing and keep playing together. You can kind of see that everyone has a little bit of a chip on their shoulders to make it as far as we can and to enjoy ourselves. I think that’s why we are doing the best right now,” said Yueill.

It’s Espinoza third goal in 35 games since San Jose acquired him at the start of the 2019 season.

San Jose put the game away in the 83rd minute thanks to its super substitute Chris Wondolowski. Carlos Fierro sent in a perfect cross from the right sideline to an unmarked Wondolowski and the all-time MLS leading goal scorer headed in the ball past Kronholm for his second goal in as many games.

Wondo, who scored 30 seconds after coming in as a sub for Judson in the 82nd minute, increased his record to 161 goals.

“[The substitutions] depend on the game and on what we are experiencing on the bench. But I considered the game still open, and we could have ended it with the substitutions that we made. Fortunately, it ended up in a positive result,” Almeyda said.

Chicago (1-2-1) couldn’t find a way to get a ball past Quakes goalkeeper Daniel Vega. He has recorded two shutouts in three games of group play.

San Jose’s back line, led by Florian Jungwirth, did a good job frustrating Fire forwards Robert Beric and C.J. Sapong and keeping them off the scoresheet.

GAME NOTES: San Jose had 5 corner kicks. Chicago had 3. It was considerably less than the MLS record 22 they had against Vancouver last Wednesday.

Stojanovic was replaced by Fabian Herbers in the second minute of stoppage time in the first half due to an lower body injury he suffered in the first half.

Chicago’s Boris Sekulic (29th minute), Alvaro Medran (53rd minute), Herbers (61st minute) Mauricio Pineda (62nd minute) Gaston Gimenez (58th minute) and San Jose’s Florian Jungwirth (37th minute), Judson (50th minute) and Eriksson (86th minute) received yellow cards.

San Jose is now 12-16-11 all-time against Chicago.

UP NEXT: San Jose awaits their next opponent at the conclusion of group play. Chicago takes on Vancouver as both teams conclude Group B play on Thursday 7/23 at 6:00am at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.